<
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/12/internet-information-trends-virality-tracking/676888/>
"You are currently logged on to the largest version of the internet that has
ever existed. By clicking and scrolling, you’re one of the 5 billion–plus
people contributing to an unfathomable array of networked
information—quintillions of bytes produced each day.
The sprawl has become disorienting. Some of my peers in the media have written
about how the internet has started to feel “placeless” and more ephemeral,
even like it is “evaporating.” Perhaps this is because, as my colleague Ian
Bogost has argued, “the age of social media is ending,” and there is no clear
replacement. Or maybe artificial intelligence is flooding the internet with
synthetic information and killing the old web. Behind these theories is the
same general perception: Understanding what is actually happening online has
become harder than ever.
The internet destroyed any idea of a monoculture long ago, but new
complications cloud the online ecosystem today: TikTok’s opaque “For You”
recommendation system, the ascension of paywalls that limit access to websites
such as this one, the collapse of Twitter—now X—under Elon Musk, the waning
relevance of news across most social-media sites. The broad effect is an online
experience that feels unique to every individual, depending on their ideologies
and browsing habits. The very idea of popularity is up for debate:
Is that
trend really viral? Did everyone see that post, or is it just my little corner
of the internet? More than before, it feels like we’re holding a fun-house
mirror up to the internet and struggling to make sense of the distorted
picture."
Via
Garbage Day: The only thing we can talk now about is celebrities
https://www.garbageday.email/p/the-only-thing-we-can-talk-now-about
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
